The Colosseum of Rome

#34 - Rome, Italy

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All roads lead to Rome and to the Colosseum.

There's no way you can visit Rome and not see the humongous amphitheater located in the center of the city. It can seat up to 50,000 spectators, which back in its day (over 2,000 years ago), would include members of the Roman senate, emperors, gladiators and citizens. Used mostly for entertainment and fights, it's a symbol of history and probably the greatest representation of Roman architecture and engineering.

Slide 1: Colosseum at night

#1 Colosseum of Rome Photo - Paul Archer
Slide 2: Ancient Roma

#2 Colosseum of Rome Photo - Karen Powers
Slide 3: Inside the Ancient Colosseum of Rome

#3 Colosseum of Rome Photo - Brad Harbach
Slide 4: The Mighty Italian Stadium

#4 Colosseum of Rome Photo - Brad Harbach
Slide 1: Colosseum of Rome inside Hypogeum

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Quick Facts & History

This multi-purpose arena in Rome, Italy is almost 2,000 years old, and remained in regular use for nearly 500 years! It spans 189 m (615 ft) long, 156 meters (510 ft) wide and is an entirely free-standing structure.
The stones used on the outer wall of the Colosseum were placed completely without mortar; instead, they were held together with 300 tons (600,000 pounds) of iron clamps!
The Colosseum had many uses, including gladiator contests, mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, and re-enactments of famous battles and plays overtime.
The gladiator games, one of the most well known uses of the Colosseum, were a deadly form of entertainment in the 50,000 seat arena, averaging approximately 2 deaths per day. In fact, the practices in the Colosseum are rumored to have taken the lives of about 500,000 people and over a million wild animals.
In order to perform the mock naval battles and implement the various sea creatures captured for entertainment in the arena, the floor of the arena could be removed and the center of it filled with water.

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Colosseum at night
Ranked #1 by Paul Archer

Ancient Roma
Ranked #2 by Karen Powers

Inside the Ancient Colosseum of R...
Ranked #3 by Brad Harbach

The Mighty Italian Stadium
Ranked #4 by Brad Harbach

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Colosseum and a Tour of Rome

Blog: Quit and Travel

Our walk ended at the Coliseum late in the afternoon. Luckily the usually horrendously long line to go inside had died off and we were able to make our way inside after waiting less than thirty minutes. The inside isn�t quite as impressive of what you expect after watching the movie Gladiator a few times, but if you shut your eyes and use your imagination you can really feel the place come alive. A tour of the Coliseum ranks behind all things Vatican for me, but if you have the time I wouldn�t advise against it.... read more

Submitted By: Brad Harbach

Submitted On: Apr 30, 2012

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